After three retirements from the last four races, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton knows he cannot afford another DNF in this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix if he is to keep his title hopes alive. He also knows, however, that an overly cautious approach could cost him the points he needs to close with the championship leader Mark Webber.Hamilton finished third at the Suzuka last year - his first Formula One race at the legendary circuit - when McLaren were outpaced by the likes of Red Bull and Toyota. This season, the former champion is out to make amends.
“Suzuka is very much unfinished business for me,” he said. “I raced the best I could last year, but our car just wasn’t fast enough. This year, I’m holding nothing back - I need a strong result to get my title hopes back on track, and that will be my complete focus from the moment I first sit in the cockpit on Friday morning.”
Hamilton limped out of the last round in Singapore with suspension damage after contact with Webber’s Red Bull, which stewards deemed a racing incident. The preceding round at Monza ended in similar fashion after he ran into Felipe Massa’s Ferrari; and he knows that Suzuka will punish any further errors.
“It’s a real driver’s circuit - you need to be committed and precise to do well there, and there’s no room for error either: no tarmac run-off, and all the barriers are pretty close, so any mistake is going to hurt your chances big-time,” he added.
Following Singapore, Hamilton dropped from second to third in the drivers' table and now has 182 points to Webber’s 202 and Fernando Alonso’s 191. With just four races remaining, and with McLaren struggling to match the pace of the Red Bulls and Ferraris, he knows he must attack in Japan.
“Now is not the time to hold back; now is the time to fight,” he concluded.